DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX October 2018 1 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX DOCUMENT CONTROL SHEET Report Title Drought Plan Appendix Authors Will Robinson, Thomas Andrewartha, Alan Gosling; Martin Lunn, Harriet Robson Previous Essex & Suffolk Water Drought Plan (2013) Issue Essex & Suffolk Water Drought Plan (2011) Essex & Suffolk Water Drought Plan (2007) Distribution Internal: Applicable Management & Affected Depts List External: As per EA Drought Plan Guideline Web: www.eswater.co.uk/droughtplan DOCUMENT CHANGE RECORD Release Date Version Report Status Change Details 05/09/2017 1 Draft N/A - first draft 02/02/2018 2 Revised Draft As per Statement of Response 18/10/2018 3 Final DOCUMENT SIGNOFF Nature of Signoff Person Date Role Reviewed by Martin Lunn 31/09/18 Head of Technical Strategy & Support Approved by Eliane Algaard 18/10/18 Water Director Essex & Suffolk Water is a trading division of Northumbrian Water Limited which is a group company of Northumbrian Water Group Registered in England & Wales No. 2366703 Registered Office: Northumbria House, Abbey Road Pity Me, Durham DH1 5FJ 2 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX Contents Appendix A Drought Plan Legislation Overview 4 Appendix B Drought Action & Environmental Assessment 9 Summary Forms Appendix C Drought Action Environmental Monitoring Plans 24 3 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX APPENDIX A: SUMMARY OF LEGAL REQUIREMENTS 4 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX A.1 Drought Related Legislation and Provisions This section details the legal aspects of drought, the duties of the water undertakers during a drought and the powers that can be granted through provisions of the Water Resources Act (WRA) amended by the Environment Act 1995). Table 1 details drought provisions and their location in the WRA. Table 1: Drought provisions and their Location in the WRA Provision Location Power to make ordinary/emergency drought order Section 73 – WRA Provisions and duration of ordinary drought order actions Section 74 – WRA Provisions and duration of emergency drought order under Section 75 – WRA Section 36 - Flood and Water Provisions of drought order restricting use of water Management Act 2010 Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 Provisions of drought order with respect to abstractions and Section 77 – WRA discharges Works under drought order Section 78 – WRA Compensation and charges where drought order Section 79 and Sch. 9 – WRA made Drought permit actions Section 79a – WRA (Amended in sch. 22 para 140 – EA) Offences against drought order Section 80 – WRA A.2 Types of Drought Provision Drought provisions may be in the form of an ordinary drought order, a drought permit or an emergency drought order. While both a drought order and a drought permit enable more water resources to be made available to the abstractor, drought orders also give water companies powers to restrict supplies to their customers. The Agency has advised ESW that a drought permit should be considered before a drought order. The Agency’s Drought Plan Guideline indicates that: - the Agency will only consider a drought permit or drought order application once a water company has demonstrated that it has put in place significant additional demand management measures prior to an application being made. The measures include appeals for constraint and temporary use bans (TUBS). - in broad terms the more environmentally damaging the predicted impact on the water environment of a particular drought action, the more stringent would be the measures sought to reduce demands on water resources. 5 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX - Agency policy is not to grant requests for drought permits or drought orders where the possible need for an application and any associated mitigation measures has not previously been identified in the Company’s agreed drought plan. - demand reductions could only be avoided as a precursor to a drought action where no significant environmental impacts could be demonstrated. - where environmental problems exist or are threatened due to an exceptional shortage of rain, the Agency may seek to restrict abstractions by water companies, if not voluntarily then by the Agency applying for a drought order. - where the Agency take the view that a water company should have applied for a drought order to make additional water resources available, but have not done so, then the Agency will make its own application where the absence of a drought order would create a significant risk of a more environmentally damaging drought order being required in the future. A.2.1 Drought Permits A drought permit may be defined as, “…the mechanism by which the EA (with consent of the local Navigation Authority, if applicable) permits a water company to abstract water outside the normal terms of an abstraction licence”. Section 79a (2) of the WRA 1991 (as amended in the EA 1995 sch. 22 para 140) makes provisions for Drought Permits. Where the Agency is satisfied that an exceptional shortage of rain has or may result in a serious deficiency of supplies of water, it may issue a drought permit with a view to meeting the deficiency. A drought permit may contain any of the following provisions: . To take water from any source specified in the drought permit subject to any conditions or restrictions specified; . To suspend or modify any restrictions or obligations the water undertaker is subject to as respects the taking of water, according to any conditions or restrictions specified Where a permit affects inland navigation, consent must be obtained from the appropriate navigation authorities, A drought permit expires six months after the permit came into force although may be extended to a maximum of one year. 6 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX A.2.2 Ordinary Drought Orders Ordinary drought orders may be defined as, “…a means whereby water companies and/or the EA can apply to the Secretary(ies) of State for the imposition of restrictions in the uses of water and/or which allows for the abstraction of water outside of the existing licence conditions”. Ordinary Drought orders are detailed in section 74 (2) of the WRA 1991. Water undertakers may apply for an ordinary drought order containing any of the following provisions: . To abstract water from any source specified in the order, subject to any conditions or restrictions . To prohibit or limit the use of water for any purpose specified in the order . To discharge water to any place specified in the order subject to any conditions or restrictions . To prohibit or limit the taking of water by any person (including the EA) from a source specified in the order, if this taking of water affects available supplies to the water undertaker . To suspend or modify restrictions or obligations to which the water undertaker is subject regarding taking, discharging, supplying (whether concerning quantity, pressure, quality, means of supply or otherwise) or filtering/treating water . To suspend, vary or attach conditions to any consent issued for the discharge of effluent by any person, including the company, which applied for the order. An ordinary drought order expires six months after the order came into force unless extended to a maximum of one year by the Secretary of State. Provision of Drought Order with Respect to Abstraction and Discharges A drought order which, . authorises the taking of water from a source which supplies water to an inland navigation; . suspends or modifies a restriction on taking water from a source which supplies water to an inland navigation; or . suspends or modifies an obligation to discharge compensation water into a canal, river or stream which forms part of, or which supplies water to an inland navigation, may include provision for prohibiting or limiting the taking of water from the inland navigation. A.2.3 Emergency Drought Orders Section 75 (2) of the WRA 1991 makes provisions for emergency drought orders. Water undertakers are granted powers to: . implement any of the provisions available under ordinary drought order applications, except to prohibit or limit the use of water for any purpose specified in the order; . prohibit or limit the use of water for such purposes as the water undertaker thinks fit (including rota cut restrictions); and . supply water by means of stand-pipes or water tanks. Quality aspects are an important element of the Drought Order process. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) must be consulted prior to seeking an emergency drought order. Water quality issues must be addressed when commissioning new or recommissioning previous sources and when applying for an emergency drought order. 7 DROUGHT PLAN APPENDIX An emergency drought order expires three months after the day the order came into force, unless extended by the Secretary of State to 5 months. A.2.4 Temporary Use Bans Temporary bans on water use, as provided for in Section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA) has been amended by Section 36 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. From this Act the Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 and the Drought Direction 2011 were enacted and this legislation is used to define our proposed temporary restrictions on the use of water during droughts. The new legislation allows a company to impose restrictions ranging from whole company area down to part of a Water Resource Zone and also allows more phasing in of restrictions than was previously allowed. A.2.5 Bulk Transfers Agreement could be reached between water companies relating to the provision of temporary bulk transfers or temporary increases/decreases in existing bulk transfers for the overall benefit of customers, in the event of a significant drought. In the absence of such an agreement, Section 40 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (as substituted by Section 44 of the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992) enables the Director General of Water Services, on application of a water undertaker, to make an order requiring another water undertaker to give a bulk supply of raw or treated water to the applicant on whatever terms and conditions are specified in the order.